During a recent episode of her podcast MeSsy with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Christina Applegate opened up about a difficult time in her battle with multiple sclerosis (MS). Applegate recounted a painful relapse she went through, revealing the severe leg pain that left her unable to walk or even shower.
This candid discussion sheds light on the challenges faced by the Dead to Me star during her MS journey, as reported by Page Six . She said, “My legs have never been this bad so I don’t know what’s going on. Like, no energy. Legs are just done. I can’t get circulation. I can’t get them to stop hurting.”
She also recalled “Not being able to walk to the bathroom without feeling like I’m going to fall. Insane tingling that just has spurts of tingles that are weird coming from like my butt down.” Nevertheless, a representative for the actress clarified to PEOPLE that the podcast episode was recorded several months ago and that Applegate is currently not experiencing a relapse.
During the relapse, Applegate’s symptoms also interfered with her ability to sleep. “I haven’t slept for 24 hours because my eye is doing something weird where every time I close my eye to go to sleep my right eye starts to shift like this,” she said.
The Bad Moms actress, who disclosed her MS diagnosis in 2021, added that she struggled to even take a proper shower. She humorously remarked that she should consider investing in Cottonelle flushable wipes for staying clean. She said, “I haven’t taken a shower in three weeks because I can’t stand in my shower. There is no f–king way I can stand in my shower.”
Moreover, Applegate mentioned that she had not heard back from her doctor regarding her symptoms. She informed Sigler that she intended to schedule an appointment to discuss her concerns. “I’m a little concerned about that,” she said.
Later on, Sigler sympathized with Applegate. He said, “Sometimes you can be doing all the right things, and it’s not fixing the problem.” Applegate also described how that was taking a toll on her mental health. “So then you do all the wrong things, and you just lay in a dark room watching TV, wanting it all to go away. And that’s kind of where I’m at,” she said.
Applegate also said that she went through a deep depression after a win vacation. “It was a win, and then came home, and deep depression set in,” she said. She also shared the difficulty of sitting on the hard bench in her shower, joking that she resorted to making her daughter smell her armpits “just to make her vomit.”
Since her MS diagnosis in 2021, both she and Sadie have been on a learning journey. “She’s had to see the loss of her mom, in the way that I was a mom with her,” Applegate shared earlier in March.
She added, “Dancing with her every day. Picking her up from school every day. Working at her school, working in the library. Being present out of the house, out of my bed. She doesn’t see those things anymore. This is a loss for her as well. And we’re both learning as we’re going along.” Since going public with her diagnosis, Applegate has been candid about her challenges with the disease, describing it as the most difficult experience of her life.